Conglomerate SM Investments Corp.
earmarked P65 billion in capital expenditures for 2013, up 16 percent from P56
billion it spent this year to finance the growth of the company.

SM Investments chief finance officer
Jose Sio said in an interview during the company’s third-quarter financial
briefing the company would allot the bulk of the 2013 capital spending for
shopping mall and property businesses.

Sio said a third of the capital
spending would be funded through equity and loans while the balance would be
sourced through internally generated funds.

SM Investments posted a net income of
P16.1 billion in the first nine months of 2012, up 14 percent from P14.2
billion year-on-year. The conglomerate attributed the growth in earnings
largely to the strong performance of the banks, malls, and retail operations.
Revenues rose 13 percent to P157.9 billion from P139.2 billion on year.

Sio said all the company’s business
groups were expected to sustain their growth next year, due to improving
domestic economic conditions.

The company’s mall business is set to
open SM Taguig and complete the expansion of SM Megamall this year.

Its supermarket business will also
open 20 to 30 outlets in 2013, most of which are Savemore stores, to bring the
total to 185. Savemore is a store format similar to a typical neighborhood
grocery store.